The operators of Hermann’s Jazz Club are closing two of its other live venues at the end of the month.
The Arts on View Society says it is ending its second and third-floor lease with the estate of the late Hermann Nieweler to focus on Hermann’s Jazz Club and the View Street Social pub, which are both located in the same building.
Hermann’s Upstairs, along with Hermann’s Lounge, will cease operations on March 31.
Arts on View Society executive director and general manager Clay Barber said in an email that the decision to terminate the lease was made on Feb. 28.
Despite sold-out shows at Hermann’s Upstairs and various cost-cutting measures, the society is running into the slower spring and summer months and now has to take the “drastic step” of ceasing operations, he said.
“Revenue continues to be a challenge,” he said, adding that Hermann’s Upstairs has not met revenue goals and attendance at Hermann’s Jazz Club has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels.
Sales at the jazz club are less than two-thirds of what they were before the pandemic, he said.
The longest continuously running club of its kind in Canada, Hermann’s Jazz Club has been located at 753 View St. since 1986. It celebrated the 43rd anniversary of its first event three weeks ago.
Following Nieweler’s death in 2015, his children ran the jazz club until the non-profit Arts on View Society took over daily operations.
The society signed a five-year operating lease in 2019. The same year, the View Street building went up for sale for $4.5 million.
Barber said that in the wake of the pandemic, the society took the “long desired opportunity” to incorporate the second-floor dance-club space into the Hermann’s brand.
“Upstairs allowed us to create a niche for those who love to dance while maintaining an intimate listening experience downstairs,” he said.
Barber said the Arts on View Society remains committed to creating and sustaining a performing arts centre in downtown Victoria.
Darryl Mar, executive director of the Victoria Jazz Society, said the upcoming TD Victoria International Jazzfest in June will not have any programming at Hermann’s Upstairs, as it has in previous years.
But the festival will be presenting shows at Hermann’s Jazz Club for eight out of 10 nights and host a JazzFest review performance with Emilie-Claire Barlow on May 2, he said in a statement.
Prior to being branded Hermann’s Upstairs, 751 View St. was the location of a short-lived Yuk Yuk comedy club franchise in 2016.
Before that, it was the home of various nightspots, including Déjà Vous, the Drawing Room and Red Jacket Lounge.
The Times Colonist has reached out to the Nieweler family for comment.
